That's it -- and that's why I haven't yet been able to get excited about Yulia. We'll see. Keeping my fingers crossed that Edmunds will be in the mix, too.

I've always loved watching Julia from an aesthetic level and my jaw dropped the first time I saw her spins. I don't think she's particularly as engaging as other skaters, but she's very consistent, and I can usually expect a solid performance from her. And of course her flexibility/spins are to die for. But Radionova just exudes more personality and has fun on the ice, which is more appealing to me personally.

I also was really impressed by Edmunds (especially her SP I enjoyed), so I also hope she can be in the mix... she can certainly challenge Gold and Wagner if she maintains her consistency and effortless jumping.

How come no one is mentioning Liza T? I think her jumps, when landed, are great

I think Liza T (and to a different extent, Artur) shows the importance of having a great base jump technique. What it means is that when everything else goes to pot for them, that great Mishin technique means the jumps never leave them. Both of them have had a stack of injuries, mental issues, and growth/development issues over the past few years but the jumps have never really left. And when you have the jumps still, everything else can be rebuilt.

I think Liza T (and to a different extent, Artur) shows the importance of having a great base jump technique. What it means is that when everything else goes to pot for them, that great Mishin technique means the jumps never leave them. Both of them have had a stack of injuries, mental issues, and growth/development issues over the past few years but the jumps have never really left. And when you have the jumps still, everything else can be rebuilt.

What good is the technique when you are constantly falling like Artur has the last 3 years?

It will be interesting see the different styles for female skaters this season.. with Mao, Caro, Akiko, Yuna and others retiring, this season will be "athletic and technical" .. a few of ladies still compete and they will try beat to younger and stronger ladies

I think Liza T (and to a different extent, Artur) shows the importance of having a great base jump technique. What it means is that when everything else goes to pot for them, that great Mishin technique means the jumps never leave them. Both of them have had a stack of injuries, mental issues, and growth/development issues over the past few years but the jumps have never really left. And when you have the jumps still, everything else can be rebuilt.

an issue with the head is hard to fix like Gachinskis
so is a genetic/body frame like Tuk cannot be changed, Tuk has weight issues but even if she loses a few pounds her body frame looks wide

Soyoun Park's jumps are the only ones out of the current ladies' that I find impressive all-around. She has decent speed going in, great rotations and body positioning in air, and good landings and flow-out. Off the top of my head, I can't think of anyone else in next season's ladies field that has such well-rounded jumps. Most of the ladies are strong in some aspects and weak in others (ex: big, explosive jumps, but unattractive launches and landings).

I fully agree with this. I was impressed with Park. Not just with her jumps but her overall performance.

What good is the technique when you are constantly falling like Artur has the last 3 years?

Because it means that now, when Artur's injuries are healed, Tarasova doesn't need to touch the jumps. It's not a worry. Heck, even at his worst his worst jump was the quad but everything else was still there. Two weeks before Russian Nationals he did a two-quad two-3A long that was basically clean. You can't do that if the jumps have disappeared.

If someone hates "girls" they surely aren't going to like the present and future. All the main contenders this year are 15-19. Next year is going to be a big influx of 15 year olds. More remaining older skaters like Wagner will likely retire.

I think Mishin is one of, if not the best, when it comes to jumping technique. What I just can't understand, is his stubbornness when it comes to choreography....The things his skaters could achieve

Agree about the artistic part, those Tangos for Evgeni and Latino for Liza are just but I think that almost all his students have very good toeloop, loop, lutz and axel technique, while his flip technique is one of the worst: Plushy and Artur didn't even include them, and (before this blackout year) it was Liza's worst jump, the most inconsistent one... It reminds me of Morozov: most of his skaters (I' m thinking about Miki, Valentina, Junior Kovtun, Amodio) have very good lutz and almost no flip